The Taliban reached their lowest moral ebb when they acknowledged that they had killed four children in an attack on September 13, on a school van outside Peshawar. The boys and girls, 14 in all, were going from a village in Khyber Agency to their school in Peshawar when the attackers opened fire on them. Shamelessly, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) owned the attack, thus thumbing their nose at their supporters and half-supporters, who think that Pakistan should not be fighting America’s war against terrorism.
The van was attacked with rocket launchers, hand-grenades, and Kalashnikovs, and the mayhem continued for 10 minutes, till the school van was pulverised. Instead of apologising for targeting children by mistake, a TTP spokesman proudly announced that his warriors had done this as revenge for locals raising an anti-Taliban lashkar. Now is the time for a rethink for those who believe that the Taliban are good people but have been provoked by Pakistan’s folly of allying itself with America in the latter’s war on terror. Now is the time to come out and unequivocally call a spade a spade and curse the TTP as an outfit of heartless criminals.
The TTP, based in Darra Adam Khel near Kohat but operating in Khyber, too, had earlier claimed that they targeted teachers and older children to teach Pakistan a lesson for organising lashkars from among the local population to fight the Taliban. But the children in the school van that the Taliban warriors killed were less than ten years old, and there is hardly any sign that the government is arming the common man to fight the Taliban. In fact, there is much evidence to suggest that the military is not all that keen in arming civilians and organising them as private lashkars to fight the militants. There is evidence too that some attacks by the Taliban on lashkars could have been prevented but that the establishment chose to stand by the side and do nothing.
The politicians need to come together and denounce the Taliban and to tell those who aspire to win the 2012 elections that they can no longer call the Taliban innocent tribesmen provoked into violence by Pakistan’s wrong policies. It is unfortunate that the TTP and its master al Qaeda have been destroying girls’ schools and attacking mosques during prayers in Ramazan without so much as a flutter of disapproval from our political parties.
The truth is that the Taliban have taken to killing children because they are getting desperate. Their support among the people is shrinking and there is nothing but coercion in their arsenal that will persuade people to accept their control over their lives. They are also increasingly using women as suicide bombers, which may suggest perhaps that they are running out of men, and they are increasingly kidnapping people to top up their coffers. Of course, they are still active because the state of Pakistan has lost its writ in many parts of the country, because its politicians are quarrelling with one another and there is much reluctance by those who matter to take the fight to the Taliban.
The Taliban will stick around as long as the state of Pakistan is weak. However, to come out of its doldrums, Pakistan needs to approach the world with a new non-isolationist face, through its foreign policy. It can effect radical changes in its foreign policy to relieve the pressure of isolationism, thus opening the door for broad-spectrum assistance from the international community. Foremost, in this respect is Pakistan’s ‘normalisation’ of relations with its neighbours.
In a number of ways, Pakistan’s internal disorder stems from its handling of its foreign policy in the region. This has happened mostly through actions taken by its embedded non-state actors across the national frontier. The situation demands that Pakistan reach out to its neighbours and pledge cooperation with them, if only to disarm the suspicion that Pakistan may be acting behind the non-state actors. This will isolate the Taliban and their master al Qaeda and open the door for the much-needed financial help.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2011.
COMMENTS (18)
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And at the end , they have an argument, "We are fighting to bring Shariah in this region" Shame on you talibans.................
During the last few weeks; the Taliban and their affiliates have significantly increased the attacks throughout Pakistan. It is not uncommon to hear that the enemy of the nation is orchestrating attacks, but back to back attacks in a short span clearly suggest that the Taliban and their affiliates are desperately trying to achieve their mission of destabilizing Pakistan. Let’s not forget the attacks have increased when the country is suffering from the devastating floods in Sindh along with the unstable situation in Karachi. Is it not a reflection of their true nature and disregard for humanity?
The brave nation of Pakistan is standing strong as the evil minded murderers continue to prey upon the innocent. The last few weeks alone have seen an attack on a mosque, killing of four children, twin blasts in Quetta and a blast during the Eid celebration and that’s just to name a few! Anyone who still fails to accept Taliban and their affiliates as the enemy of the state is not only avoiding the truth but keeping themselves in dark. They are indiscriminately targeting people from all walks of life and the need to stop these terrorists from furthering their motives requires continued cooperation between our governments which is detrimental to dismantling their network. The need to stand united is at all time high. Our will continues to be tested but the enemy needs to be made aware that we will not give in to their tactics and continue our fight against extremism for the sake of a better future for all.
false propaganda! ( one ) evidence?????? (2)proof.... this my brothers have no proof... not even the link of the acceptance has been in public sharing... this is now the propaganda to demoralize the only ppl fighting for us in Kashmir....now all of us know that is true... but what if these ppl(the true Taliban and not the KGB, RAW and CIA agents) are destroyed??????? lets see the possibility
1) there will be peace in the country(not possible due to the Indian regional wars). 2) there will be no one to fight in Kashmir(quiet possible due to the fact that our ppl on give in much 4 them) 3) there will be no resistance if the Americans come barging in(as your army has already done quiet a job in that) 4) there will be no more suicide bombings in Pakistan(which started in mid 70's when the Sunni\Shia problem started so again of no use).
TTP (Teherik - Taliban Pakistan ) Sir not Taliban .Keep it up and one realy wonders what happens with your daring writing skills when it comes to Karachi's shameless Political enterprsie,but then one has to understand that Karchi's political extremism and terrorsim is not effecting your bosses in Newyork/Washington ,right now they are only obsessed with this mantra of so called Taliban
@Rajeev: I think ET has used the word warrior on a sarcastic note since the true warriors who also claim to be religious never kill innocent women and children but rather protect them against any harm. They are infact ruthless murderers with no religion.
Someone, please ask Kaptan to read this article
yaar this is so sad,couldnt u see this was coming when u supported these barbarians in 90's.
"In a number of ways, Pakistan’s internal disorder stems from its handling of its foreign policy in the region. This has happened mostly through actions taken by its embedded non-state actors across the national frontier. The situation demands that Pakistan reach out to its neighbours and pledge cooperation with them, if only to disarm the suspicion that Pakistan may be acting behind the non-state actors. This will isolate the Taliban and their master al Qaeda and open the door for the much-needed financial help." The same kind of assurances were given by Musharaff and were flouted right behind him, even with his army's cooperation. What more assurances and promises can Pak give and who will believe them? The only CBM on terrorism that Pak can do is fasttrack the Mumbai massacres and their cohorts or even better to hand them over to India or ICJ for interrogation and punishment. Any other promise is just a hogwash and has a snowball's chance in hell to succeed. Simple overtures/promises/assurances/pledges are not enough. Action will only establish Pak credibility. Even the so called 30000 and odd casualities suffered by Pak has not created any sympathies across the world compared to the feelings towards the Mumbai victims/9-11 victims/London bomb victims. Pakistani brothers and sisters should do lot of soul searching to find the answers. Front page ad in WSJ demanding sympathy is obnoxious and pervert.
This article should have gone further to explore and question: who are arming them?. Afganistan is a landlock counrty.
The tribes of the involved families should hunt down and destroy the Taliban in their area. Our effete US-lapdog government is impotent and busy stuffing their pockets, Judgement Day be damned. No idea what the army is doing. Though with all the stories about the all-powerful ISI one would think they'd manage to hunt down and destroy this kind of vermin.
As for conspiracies - everything boils down to money. As they say, follow the money and you'll find the instigators.
Why does author need to repeatedly call Them "warriors" instead of murderers. Is it due to fear of Taliban or the sympathy
@MK Funny?? What kind of fun you were trying to find in this ghastly news??
These people are seriously deranged. Any sort of negotiations or sympathy towards them should not even be in question. They should be dealt like rabid dogs, you can't reason with them on any level. And the middle-class urban folk need to come out of their shells and stop trying to self-righteously lay the blame on conspiracy theories planned by foreign elements - wake up and smell the coffee. The monsters you feel sorry for won't return you the favour.
@MK: Nobody suggested that it was funny?????
There are no good Taliban. There are no good terrorists. These people are criminals and inhuman. We must shut them down totally and forever.
this disgusts me on so many levels, its not even funny.
An excellent editorial in which role of TTP, their symphathisers and the establishment has been discussed most methodically with a logical conclusion. This is an appropriate time for Pakistan military and civilian govt including the opposition to review the outdated and self-destructive policies toward militant organisations and its neighbours which if continued would result into total anarchy and ultimate collapse of the country.
Well written and cogent argument to draw a line in the sand and expose the Taliban for what they truly are- a gang of fascist,misogynist thugs who masquerade as freedom fighters when they are anything but that. But it is important to remember that their enablers are not only the shadowy figures in the background who give them a pseudo religious respectability by terming their "resistance" as Jihad, but the other apologists who attempt to distinguish between the "good" Taliban and the "bad" Taliban. It is like trying to distinguish between a good Nazi and a bad Nazi -it is a nonsense,and a futile exercise!! The Taliban represent the worst in human nature & damage the name of Islam & in so doing the reputation of Pakhtoon's